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====== 10b Smike and the Red Dragon ======

===== Apr 28 =====

==== 11pm ====

<div right tip>Session \\ 2009-03-21</div>

{{ http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG76.jpg}}

[[Smike]] sneaks past the dragon and quietly grabs hold of [[Pthia]]'s belt as she prays for deliverance.  "Hurry, [[Pthia]]!" he mouths silently.  He feels the tug as she steps through the rift in space created by her prayer.  As he steps forward to follow her he feels a surge of resistance and finds he can't push through the barrier that the others stepped through so easily.  The fissure closes before his eyes as he claws at it.  "Uh oh," he whispers and looks up, temporarily frozen with fear, at the dragon towering over him.

The dragon screeches in frustration as [[Pthia]], [[Tak]] and [[Khouhn]] disappear.  She pauses for a moment, cocking her massive head.  Her lips draw back in a cruel smile,  revealing fangs larger than [[Smike]]'s leg, still slick with the blood of [[Tak]] and [[Khouhn]].

She slowly lolls her head back and forth, her large forked tongue flicking and tasting the air.    She freezes, staring intently at the space that [[Smike]] occupies.  She lowers her head just in front of [[Smike]] at his eye level and chuffles.  Hot, acrid, sulphurous breath washes over [[Smike]] from nostrils bigger than his fists, and baleful eyes stare him down, the pupils barely discernible in sclera of white hot lava.

After what seems like an eternity, the dragon begins to turn away.  With a lightning quickness, the dragon suddenly reverses direction and strikes, her jaws snapping down right where [[Smike]] was a mere microsecond before.  The muzzle of the beast bashes [[Smike]] nearly knocking him of balance as the dragon swings her head back up and glares down at [[Smike]], her mouth agape.

"Well, fire tempers steel," thinks [[Smike]], "Here goes nothing!"

He defensively, silently mouths the words of the //Animorph// spell, forcing his body to reshape into that of an owl.  Owl-[[Smike]] silently takes off and flies as quietly as possible away, towards the mind flayer's former lair.  He follows the currents of air out of the proximity of the dragon.

Now an owl, [[Smike]] is able to take to the air and start flying away before the dragon can react.  [[Smike]] begins flying away, gliding as silently as he can.

[[Smike]] hears the roar of flame behind him, and the air in front of him starts to shimmer as a searing heat crests over him  The flame engulfs [[Smike]], but the dragon aimed her breath low, and [[Smike]] is able to furiously beat his wings and rise out of the flame as the fire fills the hallway.  The basalt stone corridor glow white hot and the throbbing purple veins blister red momentarily.

Lumbering through her own cloud of fire, the dragon is atop of [[Smike]] with an arrogant grin.  It is all too apparent to [[Smike]] that while his exact location is concealed from the beast, her keen senses let it know where he is.

Desperately, [[Smike]] casts //Dancing Lights// ahead to distract the wyrm and then banks hard to the left, flying silently up the stairs to the mindflayer's lair.  

The dragon, alert to the possibility of more enemies lunges towards the library to investigate.  She quickly realizes the deception, though, and rushes back to where [[Smike]] was only a moment ago.

Owl-[[Smike]] silently casts message on the dragon before flying through the broken door into the mindflayer's lair, as the dragon chases after him.  He lets out a sigh, "That door's too small for her--I'm safe!".  Turning back, his eyes widen in shock and fear to see a flash light up an armband on the dragon's forepaw as she //reduces in size// and starts pushing her way through the broken door.

[[Smike]] realizes his mistake: of course the dragon has magical items for these kinds of circumstances!  Wildly, he tries to //dispel// the effect of the armband.  Success!  The dragon grows and is temporarily stuck in the doorway.  But that won't hold her for long.

[[Smike]] came here thinking the small door would protect him.  Now he's trapped in this room!  Wait...no, there is another exit--the secret door at the far end of the pit!  [[Smike]] flies there as fast as he can.  He dismisses his owl-form and takes down the immovable rod blocking the door.  He hears the beat of powerful wings behind him as he knocks open and pushes the door open a crack.

But it's too late--the dragon is upon him.  She catches [[Smike]] in his jaws and lifts him off the ground.  [[Smike]] stares in horror at the teeth skewering his guts, knowing this is the end.  As he begins to lose consciousness a detached portion of his mind thinks "Those teeth are almost as big as me.  If I was much smaller this dragon wouldn't even be able to bite me."  

[[Smike]] snaps back to awareness.  His flame hasn't been snuffed out yet!  He //animorphs// into the smallest animal he can--a toad.  It works!  The dragon loses her hold and [[Smike]] hops out of her mouth just before she can slam her jaws shut and swallow him whole.  

[[Smike]] hops through the secret door and dismisses his toad-form, praying to gods he's disdained all his life that the passage offers an escape route.  He swallows hard as he peers down the dark corridor: it ends in a solid wall.  There is no exit, only a table at the far end.  Turning back, [[Smike]] sees the dragon reducing in size again to get through the door.  She pushes at the door but in her smaller state isn't able to open it and it swings shut.  [[Smike]] seizes the opportunity to rush back to the door and block it with the immovable rod.  He downs a healing potion to staunch the bleeding in his gut from the dragon bite.

[[Smike]] is alone in a room with no other exits and just a table at the far end.  Moving through the room he is assailed by images of mindflayers feasting, visions that attack his mind and leave him weakened.  Finally he is able to summon his will to shake off the horrors he sees.  On reaching the far end he sees only a silver ewer on the table.  Looking into the ewer he sees magical dust at the bottom.  As the dragon starts hacking at the door and [[Smike]] investigates the ewer on the table he begins whispering to the dragon (via the message spell): 

"You're amazing!  You move through the air like an arrow!  I'm dumbfounded by my luck in escaping your clutches!  Truly, you must inspire fear in all who gaze upon you!  Your scales shine like rubies!  The very earth melts under the blast of your fiery breath!"

As [[Smike]] flatters the dragon, he concentrates on the magical ewer and detects a moderate aura, the octamarine a delightful shade of conjuration.  You hear the dragon, calling through the door, 

"Your luck has ended, morsel.  But because you ecognize the greatness of your doom, I shall kill you quickly!"

"Clearly, you will be my bane.  I am honoured to die in the teeth of one so ferocious and powerful!  (It's really a miracle I was able to evade you for so long.)  It is a shame though that all my mystical secrets will die with me..."

The dragon roars, "I will kill you  swiftly just to shut you up!"

[[Smike]] cannot tell whether the powder is of divine or arcane origin.  He notices that a third of it fits in the cup next to the ewer.  [[Smike]] whiffs the powder, wondering if it should be inhaled.  It seems rather coarse, and smells strongly of almonds.

The dragon has stopped clawing at the door.  Instead, [[Smike]] hears it tapping around the frame, apparently trying to find the weakest spot.

As [[Smike]] pours out a cupful of powder from the ewer he continues monitoring the door and talking to the dragon:

"Sorry, I'm nervous and prattling on in the presence of your sublime savagery.  I'll shut up now.  ...But it really does surprise me that I was able to escape you.  I guess it's due to that one little weakness of yours..."

[[Smike]] swallows the powder in the cup.  He feels completely renewed and refreshed, as the effects of the powder courses through him.  He is careful not to let the relief of his pain be heard in his voice as he pours the remaining 2 portions of powder into a spell-component pouch.

"Yep, if it weren't for that //'one//' little flaw you'd be the perfect manslayer!..."

"One little flaw..."

"You are soooo close to perfection!  If only..."

He can hear the dragon through the door, and she is still probing the door and you hear her pushing things around in the room.  Smike turna the table over.  It is heavy and crashes onto its side.  He hides behind the table and draws a wand.

<div right tip>Session \\ 2009-04-03</div>

About a minute later, the door expodes apart in an orgy of violent sound.  The dragon's head appears through the fine black dust, her lips curled back in disdain as she snarls, "Now I will silence your prattle forever!"

[[Smike]]'s face pales as he gapes at the huge head filling the space where the door used to be.  Clearly, bargaining isn't going to work.  He //disappears// from sight and ducks behind the overturned table as the room erupts in flame.  When the flames abate [[Smike]] stands behind the charred remains of the table, silently points his wand at the dragon, and activates it.

A tear appears in the space over the dragon's head and thousands of tiny bats fly out, swarming around her.  She ineffectually bites and rakes at the swarm as [[Smike]] //turns// himself into a bat.  He knows she could smell him earlier, now he hopes his scent is masked by the swarm.  [[Smike]] flies through the swarm and past the dragon.  It works, she doesn't recognize him among the swarm!

[[Smike]] excitement turns to dread as the dragon behind him steps back and blasts the swarm with her fiery breath.  The incinerated bats fall out of the air, covering the ground with blackened husks.  The dragon licks the air, turns her head toward [[Smike]] and grins.

[[Smike]] flies like a bat out of hell to the twisted remains of the doorway as the air behind him is ploughed into eddies by powerful wingbeats.  He dives through the doorway and up the stairs--he knows the dragon won't be delayed long by the narrow frame.

At the top of the stairs [[Smike]] faces a choice: go back to where his friends left him (and [[Quell]] still lies) or flee.  He can't take the risk of being caught--he flees towards the library.  He sees the dragon's head emerge into the hallway as he rounds the corner.  She sniffs the air and seems uncertain.  [[Smike]] doesn't wait to find out if she has lost his scent--he continues flying to the shrine and beyond.  At the shrine he passes 3 priests but they don't notice him--he slows his flight to move quietly and continues past.

By remaining //invisible// [[Smike]] is able to make it through the door at the far end to the Water door room and from there back to the Earth door (using his //spiderclimb// slippers to bypass the blade trap).  He remembers the bolt hole and makes his way there without detection to rest.

===== Apr 29 =====

Over the next few days [[Smike]] waits for the party near where they left.  In rat form, he sees the [[Lilac Masks]], brother and sister assassins.  Eventually, he encounters [[Varachan]] and later his party returns.

